"If we do our job, you can cut that statistic out," Auburn quarterback Cam Newton said.

The unbeaten Tigers (8-0 overall, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference) play their first game ever ranked as the No. 1 team in the BCS standings today at Ole Miss, which has a coach with a history of kicking Goliath in the shins.

On paper, the Rebels look completely overmatched. Auburn, behind the explosive Newton, leads the SEC in total offense and rushing offense. Ole Miss (3-4, 1-3 in the West), is last in scoring defense and 10th in total defense.

But the never-say-never element to this game is the fact that Rebels' third-year coach Houston Nutt is 5-9 against top five teams (3-3 in his last six games) dating back to his 10 seasons at Arkansas. In all five wins, Nutt's team entered the game unranked.

Nutt's last three wins? Ole Miss over No. 4 Florida, 31-30, in 2008; Arkansas over No. 1 LSU, 50-48, in three overtimes in '07; and Arkansas over No. 2 Auburn, 27-10, in '06.

On the other hand, Ole Miss is 0-6 lifetime playing No. 1 teams.

Unlike some of his previous games against top five teams, Nutt's current squad is still very much a work in progress. It doesn't even have a handful of playmakers. The inexperienced offensive line gets shuffled almost weekly because of injuries. A supposedly experienced defense continues to allow game-changing big plays.

"Our team knows who they are playing and how good they are," Nutt said. "I'm more concerned about us eliminating mistakes and taking care of the ball. We need to play a full 60-minute game."

Instant fix?

It's hard to believe that Florida, which in the last three seasons never averaged fewer than 445 yards total offense or 36 points per game, ranks 10th in the SEC in rushing, eighth in passing and ninth in scoring.

The Gators (4-3, 2-3 in the Eastern Division), mired in their first three-game losing streak since the end of the 1999 season, had an open date last week before playing red-hot Georgia (4-4, 3-3 in the East) today in Jacksonville.

While Florida has been hit with a bunch of injuries lately to some of its key playmakers, the Gators weren't that good even when guys like tailback Jeff Demps were healthy.

That's why coach Urban Meyer, having mentally dissected his offense, determined the problem is the pace of practices has been too slow. One reason, Meyer said, is that hiring four new assistants this season has led to inefficient practices.

"If you don't practice fundamentals at game speed, you don't improve," he said.

Practices have been more alive since the Gators last played and lost to Mississippi State, 10-7, on Oct. 16.

"We've practiced really hard," senior center Mike Pouncey said. "I'm seeing a bunch of guys that really want to win. We practiced hard during the bye week, just like we had a game that Saturday."

Danger, danger

No. 21 Mississippi State plays for a second straight week as a ranked team, and the Bulldogs (6-2 overall, 2-2 in the Western Division) have to play Kentucky, probably the SEC's most wildly unpredictable team.

The Wildcats (4-4, 1-4 in the East) have an offense that can hang with anybody in the league they lost to then-No. 8 Auburn 37-34 on Oct. 9 and an offense that can get them beat.

In Kentucky's four wins this season, the Wildcats are plus-8 in turnover margin. In the four losses, UK is minus-7 in turnover margin.

"That's pretty much the story of our season," Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said.

What should scare State a bit is the fact that Kentucky has scored 30 points in four consecutive SEC games, the first time that has happened since 1999. The Bulldogs haven't scored more than 24 points in an SEC game this season.

"They may have the most explosive offense we've played this year," State coach Dan Mullen said.